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Al-Muminun
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Al-Muminun
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ClassificationMakkan

Meaning of the nameThe Believers
Statistics
Sura number23 106
Number of verses
118
Previous SuraAl-Hajj

Next SuraAn-Nur



Surat Al-Muminun (Arabic: ???? ?????????) (The Believers) is the 23rd sura of the Qur'an with 118 ayat.
The Surah begins with an assertion, "Most certainly the Believers have attained true success", intending to put across a point that the criterion of success and failure which people who disbelieve in Islam, hold in mind is in fact erred. This is owing to the fact that it is based on misconceptions and is transitory and limited in nature, in turn leading to eventual failure and not true success.
On the contrary, those who follow the teachings of Islam as taught of Muhammad (Allah's peace be upon him), whom they regard as failures, are truly successful because by their acceptance of the invitation to Islam, they are guaranteed of true success and everlasting bliss in this world as well as in the Hereafter. By rejecting the Message of Islam, the opponents have incurred a profound loss and would meet with the evil consequences both in this world and the next.

This is the main theme of the Surah and the whole discourse, from the beginning to the end, is meant to impress the same.[1]
The First Eleven Verses
A brief translation of the first 11 verses is as follows:Qur'an 23:1–11 (Translated by Pickthall)
•23:001 Successful indeed are the believers
•23:002 Who are humble (Khashi'oon) in their prayers,
•23:003 And who shun vain conversation (al-Lagw),
•23:004 And who are payers of the poor-due(Zakaat);
•23:005 And who guard their modesty ~
•23:006 Save from their wives or the (slaves) that their right hands possess, for then they are not blameworthy,
•23:007 But whoso craveth beyond that, such are transgressors (Zina)
•23:008 And who are shepherds of their pledge and their covenant,
•23:009 And who pay heed to their prayers (Salaat).
•23:010 These are the heirs
•23:011 Who will inherit paradise. There they will abide.
Qualities of the Believers
The first eleven verses of this Surah hence mention the desired qualities of the believers, they are blessed and will attain victory.
Possess Al-Khushoo
The first quality as described in verse 2 of this Surah is, "Those who are humble in their prayers"Qur'an 23:2; the Arabic word used to describe the people is 'Khashi'oon' meaning those who possess 'Al-Khushoo'.
According to Tafsir ibn Kathir, a classical Tafsir (i.e. a commentary of the Quran written by Islamic scholar Ibn Kathir, the Arabic word 'Khushoo' encompasses the meanings of calmness, serenity, tranquility, dignity, and humility."[2], while Ibn Abbas explains 'Khashi'oon' to mean, with fear and tranquility.[3] Al-Khushoo is a necessary component of Salaah, however can be very easily lost. In a Hadith, Prophet Muhammed said "The first thing to be lifted up (taken away) from this Ummah will be al-Khushoo; until you will see no one who has al-Khushoo."[4]
To attain al-Khushoo one must forget everything about the world and concentrate in the prayer acts, reciting the Qur'aan and thinking of the verses one reads and bearing death, grave and the torment in mind so that he never looses concentration. In his Tafseer, Imam Ibn Katheer writes, "Khushoo is gained by the fear of Allah and the sense that He is always watching."[2] In another section he says, "The site of al-Khushoo is in the heart and heart is the king of the limbs, so if one intends to pray wholeheartedly the limbs will follow the heart as Allah says (in the Qur'an): 'And seek help in patience and Salaat and truly it is extremely heavy and hard, except for Khashi'oon.'Qur'an 2:45–45 The meaning is that the burden of prayer is heavy indeed; except for those who have Khushoo." [2]
Regarding the same verse, i.e. 'And seek help in patience and Salaat and truly it is extremely heavy and hard, except for Khashi'oon.'Qur'an 2:45–45, Shaikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (rahimahullah) is of the opinion that "This (verse) implies condemnation of those who are not Khashi'oon... Condemnation only applies when something obligatory is not done, or when something forbidden is done. If those who do not have Khushoo are to be condemned, this indicates that Khushoo is obligatory."[5]
In his famous book titled Towards Understanding the Qur'an, Islamic thinker and philosopher Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi cites a notion that "Al-Khushoo of the heart is to fear and stand in awe of a powerful person, and al-Khushoo of the body is to bow one's head and lower one's gaze and voice in his presence. In Salaah one is required to show al-Khushoo, both of the heart and of the body, and this is the essence of this Islamic Prayer. It has been reported that when the Prophet Muhammed once saw a person offering Salaah, as well as playing with his beard, he remarked: "Had he khushu in his heart,

When I took this photo of the white flower I remembered how in Christ we are new creation. But here I would like to just talk about the joy of being new creation in Christ, because it seems that joy is the first gift Christ gives us through the Holy Spirit when we surrender our lives to Him. Here is a little story...

In the summer of 2003, I had just graduated from high school and by then I was in Canada for 4 years, I decided to find Christian chat rooms online. I had never been to a chat room before (or since) but I really wanted to join one because I needed spiritual advice on how to overcome lust, and I didn’t have any other source of help.

So I went to MSN chat rooms (been closed for a while now) and I looked through few Christian chat rooms before I mustered the courage to join one that had about 8-12 people in it. There were only 2 Christians ladies and the rest were all men. When I joint they were all nice calling me brother and so forth, and asked what brought me to the chat room and I told them my problem and how I was seeking advice on overcoming lust. For some reason that didn’t go well with the men and the “senior” male member finally told me something like, “My grandfather and my dad both look at women, lust after them, and comment on their bodies, and I do the same...we all do and we turned out just fine!” I answered him, “My dad does too but I don’t follow your dad or mine—I follow Christ.” That didn’t go well with them and the senior male member said something to the like, “This is turning stupid and boring, I am leaving”, and he left. Five minutes later I was there only with the two ladies who happened to be the creators/moderators of that chat room (and older lady and a younger lady). They were very friendly and we talked about sin, and the Bible and so on. That was the first night, and they asked me to come to their chat room the next night too.

Next night I went to the chat room again but there was nobody except the older moderator. After few minutes this lady comes into the chat room and begs us to save her friend! She says that she just met this lady in her early to mid 20s yesterday through another chat room and she is suicidal. That’s when I thought, “Ok, it is time to leave!”, because I didn’t want to trouble them with my lust problem when they have to deal with a person who is ready to commit suicide! So the older moderator asked the new lady to bring the young lady into the chat room so she can talk with her. The new lady kept going and coming back saying she can’t convince the young lady to come to the chat room. After 10 minutes or so the young lady finally joins our chat room, and so they both, the moderator and the lady, start talking to her but she wasn’t opening up to anyone. That’s when they both decided to leave her for me to handle, and the older moderator told me that she is going away and that I was in charge of the chatroom!

I didn’t know what to say, after all I was there for help! So I just quoted this verse, "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds," which I found on Dr. Stanley’s website (InTouch.org). The young lady asked, “Where does the Bible say this?” I told her, “Psalm 147:3”. Then the new lady got occupied by new members. So I decided to open a private window to chat with the young lady alone.

She told me about her life: how she knows about God from attending a Catholic School, how she doesn’t know where her mom is, she lives with her father and grandmother who are alcoholics, her grandmother is also into all kind of black magic that she is sometimes too scared to even leave her room, and how her brother is also into magic and is a drug dealer! I tried my best so share Christ with her but I was just happy she was opening up—I was afraid she would hurt herself. Around 3:30 AM I was worn out and she said, “Be right back”, so I took the opportunity to go to my bed, kneel on it and pray. I prayed until she came back; I prayed for her well physically and spiritually health and for her to have joy in her life.

We talked a bit more and then I was very tired and my eyes were hurting me so I told her, “I really got to go sleep because I am very tired.” But she kept me chatting for few more minutes until when I really had to leave she blurred, “Ok, I want to get saved, I want to have a personal relationship with Christ but I don’t know how!” So she asked me a bit more about salvation and I told her to go pray asking God to forgive her of her sins, to turn away from her sins, and tell Him that she believes He sent His son to die for all her sins, and to invite Him as Lord into her heart. She agreed and went away and came back after few minutes. We decided to close the private window and go back to the main chat room window.

Something changed in that girl right away! I mean she was happy, and talkative, and cracking jokes and praising God on the Internet! The only thing concerned me is that her typing was becoming far between, so she wo